Judge denies motion to halt vote on Miami waterfront plan

@ChuckRabin

A judge on Thursday denied a request from a local activist to halt Tuesday’s vote by Miamians on whether to approve a major waterfront renewal project on city-owned land in Coconut Grove, and the 50-year lease that goes with it.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jerald Bagley said paralegal Grace Solares failed to prove her contention that the ballot language is misleading or that irreparable harm would result from allowing the vote to proceed. Solares filed an emergency motion with the court on Tuesday, a week before the Nov. 5 election and after thousands of early and absentee votes had already been cast.

“Seeking injunctive relief is an extraordinary measure,” Bagley told Solares and her attorney, Linda Carroll, after an hour-long emergency hearing in a courtroom filled with Grove residents fighting the development plan.

Solares argued the city charter forbids leases longer than five years on city-owned land, and that the charter question on the ballot is misleading and provides insufficient information.